Oblivious
by Chrmdpoet
Summary: It wasn't like Bo was completely oblivious. She'd seen the way Tamsin looked at her sometimes, heard the words whispered from the Valkyrie's own lips.


**A/N: Written for one of my 5-Word Tumblr Prompts, using the words 'Bo learns of Tamsin's feelings'. Enjoy! XO-Chrmdpoet**

Oblivious

It wasn't like Bo was completely oblivious. She'd seen the way Tamsin looked at her sometimes, heard the words whispered from the Valkyrie's own lips.

_You shouldn't be real._

_Where do you get off being so perfect?_

_Think you've seen everything, and then you see you._

You can't hear words like that and not suspect something might be stirring under the surface, but there was always such pain in the words, such a solemn despair that coated Tamsin's voice. There was always such a haunt in Tamsin's light eyes, such weight. Bo took those sounds and those stares and chalked them up to regret or maybe admiration? Some level of care that she couldn't quite put a label on, but it always felt too sad to be love.

Even Tamsin's kisses tasted like sorrow, no matter their heat or their hunger. So, Bo never really let the idea of love sink in or take hold.

Until…

* * *

><p>Tamsin slammed the shot glass down on the bar, grinning triumphantly despite the heavy glaze in her eyes and the way her body swayed atop the bar stool. "That's seventeen, wolf boy," she gloated, the words coming out in a slur. She hadn't stopped even after Kenzi warned she should, and now her stomach was rolling but she didn't care because she was kicking ass, and Bo was watching so…<p>

Dyson groaned, his stomach protesting, as he laid his head against the top of the bar. "How do you drink so much?" he slurred. They'd started with beer before switching to shots (which probably wasn't a good idea; beer before liquor, you've never been sicker, right?), and Tamsin kicked his ass in both volume and speed.

"Valkyries run deep," she laughed, clapping his shoulder. She turned when she felt an arm slide around her shoulders, and she laughed even harder when she glanced over to see that it was Kenzi. "I'm getting Mom face from my Moms."

Kenzi nodded. "Momma didn't raise you in a bar, Tammy."

Tamsin's face scrunched at the same time that Bo laughed and said, "Actually, you kinda did, Kenz."

"This is a respectable establishment," Kenzi gasped, feigning offense.

Tamsin and Bo dissolved into laughter again while Dyson smiled, half-asleep on top of the bar. "Respectable or not," Bo said, "I think you two have had enough."

Bo jerked when Dyson slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap, snuggling his scruffy face into her neck and humming sleepily.

She saw it then—Tamsin's pain, and it was in that moment that Bo finally understood.

The Valkyrie tensed under Kenzi's arm, and Bo watched the teasing smile instantly fade from Tamsin's face. Those light eyes, dancing with mirth, grew dark and distant, angry and sad at once, and then Tamsin shrugged out from under Kenzi's arm and mumbled some excuse about needing air before disappearing out the door.

Kenzi looked at Bo. She sighed and shook her head before taking off after Tamsin, and Bo sat there in Dyson's embrace suddenly feeling sick to her stomach, a painful heat prickling over her skin.

All those looks and those words—they hadn't been too sad to be love. They were sad _because_they were love, because Tamsin loved her without any expectation of being loved in return.

Pain flashed in Bo's chest and she found herself pressing at the space above her heart, trying to catch her breath. How could she have been so stupid?

She carefully pried herself out of Dyson's grip and took off after Tamsin and Kenzi. When the cold night air hit her face, she sucked it in sharp gulps and tried to ignore the way her eyes started to sting.

She heard them before she saw them.

"It'll be okay, Tam Tam,"Kenzi cooed.

"I fucking hate this." Bo heard the ache in Tamsin's voice followed by a sniffle. Bo rounded the dumpster in time to see Tamsin angrily wipe her nose with the sleeve of her jacket. "She doesn't—"

Tamsin stopped as soon as she saw Bo, and Kenzi whirled around.

"Bo-bo, maybe you could give us a minute?" Kenzi tried, but Bo shook her head.

"I think we should talk, Tamsin," Bo said, surprised the words came out as clearly as they did. She felt like her throat was closing, like she'd lose the ability to breathe within seconds.

Kenzi looked to Tamsin. When the Valkyrie nodded, she squeezed her arm and then gave Bo the same Mom eyes she'd given Tamsin earlier. She stopped at Bo's side and dropped her voice to a hissing whisper. "Bo-bo, I love you like a sister, you know that, but that is Tamsin, okay?_My _Tamsin, and—"

"I know," Bo interrupted, smiling sadly at Kenzi. They held each other's gazes for a moment before Kenzi sighed, nodded, and made her way back inside the Dal.

Bo stepped over to Tamsin, and for a moment, neither said a word. Tamsin teetered on her feet but remained upright as she leaned against the brick wall. She avoided Bo's gaze like the plague.

"Tamsin," Bo finally sighed, "why didn't you tell me?"

Tamsin laughed harshly. "That's rich," she said, swiping roughly at her cheeks with her sleeve.

"What?"

Tamsin sighed, the sound bordering on a growl. "I did," she bit out messily, the words thick on her tongue still tasting of alcohol. "I_did_ tell you. I told you a million times, Bo. You didn't want to hear it."

"I just didn't realize," Bo tried, taking a step closer. "I'm sorry, Tamsin. I thought … I don't know what I thought, and—"

"And you've already got your hands and your heart and your whatever full of wolves and doctors and whatever the fuck else." Tamsin waved a dismissive hand before gripping the wall to stop herself from losing her balance.

Bo stepped forward and wrapped her hands around Tamsin's shoulders. "And Valkyries," she added, trying to catch Tamsin's gaze.

Tamsin scoffed but looked up, and Bo thought she saw a flicker of hope in the Valkyrie's light eyes. Tamsin felt her heart begin to race, and she tried to tell it calm the fuck down, but it wouldn't listen. It never did when it came to Bo.

"Don't do that," she whispered, unable to stop her voice from trembling. Fucking alcohol. It was killing her ability to be a frigid bitch, and that was the only thing that ever kept her safe. She wasn't safe right now. She was dangerously close to having her heart broken and actually feeling it. "Don't."

Bo held onto her, bringing one hand up to rest against the warmth of Tamsin's neck. "Hey," she said. Her fingers slipped up further and dusted over the wet spots on Tamsin's cheek. "You _are _in my heart, Tamsin. You are."

Tamsin's chest flooded with the hope she'd been denying herself now for what felt like ages. Fresh tears fell and she rolled her eyes. "Fucking Succubus," she growled before grabbing Bo's shirt and jerking her in.

She kissed her sloppily, but Bo let her, and when she tried to apologize for the technique, the Succubus only winked and promised she could try again soon.


End file.
